


Rich Man, Poor Girl

by SRassier



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, Five has something to hide, Hella hott Five, Mystery (If you squint), Opposites Attract, Romance, Super cool Vanya, Vanya don't care, hit-man shoot 'em up violence, no one's related, non graphic sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRassier/pseuds/SRassier
Summary: Vanya is a poor waitress, Five is a rich mystery man. Can they make it work? Who knows... Luther and Allison serve as her BFFs who try to do all in their power to help the couple along.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 13
Kudos: 128





	1. The Mystery Man

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my hand at Fiveya but I'm not really into them as is and I wouldn't want to hurt Delores' feelings. So I decided to make an AU where no one's related and it's just good clean family fun! (Family fun plus swearing and sexy times, because I can.)
> 
> This is basically a challenge to myself to see how many winks and nods to the show I can throw in as well as finding a place for all the characters.

Vanya Lewis was nearly out of breath as she ran through the front door of Griddy’s Diner. Her shift started 10 minutes ago, and she shot an apologetic look to her co-worker Allison who was undoubtedly waiting on her to get there so she could leave for the day. She nearly slipped as she rounded the counter and bolted for the back room as she cursed herself for being late again. 

“Shit, shit, shit.” She fumbled with her coat and unceremoniously threw it over a chair in the office and took a half a second to check herself in the mirror before heading out to the dining room. “Well,” she muttered, throwing her hair into a messy bun, and attempting to ignore her flushed face, “at least no one will hit on you tonight.” She plastered on a smile and went out to start her shift.

Allison greeted her with a grin, “rehearsal run long again?”  
“Yeah, I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s ok. I’m not waiting on you or anything. Helen called in, so it’s you and me tonight!” Vanya was grateful for the news. She liked Allison. Working with her was not only fun, but they worked well together and were very efficient. Helen, not so much. As they fell into their normal routine, the bell on the door rang and a family came in. Vanya grabbed some menus and headed over to get their drink order.

Near the end of their shift, their boss walked through the door, just as he always did every Thursday night, at 11:00 sharp. He was a very punctual man, something that made Vanya wonder why he even kept her around, she probably drove him crazy. He was a very nice, older British man who for reasons unknown to his staff, owned a diner in midtown New York and had a very peculiar name which he also never explained. He treated all the staff with respect and even referred to them as ‘Miss Vanya,’ or ‘Mr. Luther.’

“Evening Mr. Pogo.” Allison beamed as she wiped up a spill from the counter. She was a naturally charismatic person, something Vanya envied. Everyone Allison talked to liked her, and she always seemed genuine with everyone.   
“Good evening, Ms. Allison.” He tipped his hat at Allison and then Vanya and walked to the back office to do the weekly bookwork. 

Luther, the cook, walked out from the kitchen and he, Allison, and Vanya began the same discussion they had every Thursday night. “I’m guessing that he was raised in the Congo or some shit,” Luther posited as he began cleaning the milkshake machine. “He was orphaned and raised by monkey scientists and given the name Pogo.”   
“Monkey scientists?” Allison giggled and looked at Vanya with disbelief in her eyes. “Can you believe someone married this guy?”  
“I’m still convinced that you were concussed at the time.”  
“That’s the only logical explanation.” Allison winked at Luther and he put his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. 

“Uh oh,” Luther said as he glanced up at the door. “Speaking of getting married…Vanya, it’s your boyfriend.”  
Vanya straightened up and looked at Allison. “Oh no, not tonight…I look like shit.”  
“You look fine,” Allison fussed with her hair for a moment, pushing a stray strand behind Vanya’s ear. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you could wear a potato sack to work and he’d ignore all of us anyway.” 

The bell signaling the door rang and to Vanya it sounded about 100 decibels louder than normal. Before she could even turn around, Allison was grabbing a menu and walking over to their new customer. “Evening sir, are we dining this evening?”   
No one knew much about the mystery man. He had been coming to the diner for the past few months and a few weeks ago she accidently let it slip that she thought he was good looking and the rest of the staff had not let her forget it. When she turned around, she found him staring at her while absent mindedly making small talk with Allison and she couldn’t help but think, ‘damn, did he actually get hotter?’

Allison led him to a booth in her section and he made some kind of excuse to sit elsewhere. She gestured that the place was all his and he chose a small table to the back…of Vanya’s section. Vanya pretended to busy herself with wiping the counter when Allison came back to the front. “He said he wants coffee, black.”  
“Shocker.” She set out to get the coffee.  
“He also said he wanted it to be extra sexy tonight, so he sat in your section.”  
Vanya’s head snapped to look at her co-worker. “He did not!”  
Allison laughed and Luther shook his head. “Girl, you are hopeless.”

Vanya took the mug and playfully slapped Luther’s arm as she walked past. She rounded the corner of the counter and headed back to her mystery man. As she approached, she couldn’t help but notice that he watched her every step of the way. She approached the table and set his coffee down. “Here you go.”  
“You look like you have fun.”  
“I’m sorry?”  
“You and your co-workers.” The man nodded in the direction of Allison and Luther, both trying, and failing, to look like they weren’t watching. “You all seem to get along. That’s nice to have, makes work a little easier.”  
“Do you like your co-workers?” Vanya mentally smacked herself for asking such an asinine question.   
“I like them very much.” He took a sip of his coffee and looked back up at her, a sly grin on his face. “I work alone.”  
Vanya let out a nervous laugh, only reminding her of how ridiculous she felt near him. He’s just a human being, she thought. A very handsome, tall, well dressed, human being whom she had a major crush on. “Ok, well, if you need anything else…I’m Vanya.” She pointed to her name tag and did a sort of awkward curtsey before turning and rushing back to the counter. 

She stood between Allison and the mystery man. “Is he still looking?”  
“Honey, he’s always looking.” Allison leaned around Vanya and gave the man a little wave. Vanya grabbed her hand and pushed it down, her face turning red. Vanya busied herself with cleaning and re-stocking. A few minutes later, Allison came up to her, “I don’t get why you don’t just tell him what you want.”  
“Oh yeah right.” She finished wiping the counter down and started to fill napkins. “Hey, I know I don’t even know your name, but I’ve been crushing on you HARD since you wandered into my diner and, I don’t know…you wanna get married?”  
Vanya slowly noticed the look on Allison’s face and could only describe it as an “oh shit’ look. Her eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment as she heard the man’s voice directly behind her. “My name is Five. It’s Reginald actually, but I’m the fifth one and I hate my old man, so I go by Five. I’m flattered that someone as pretty as you could, um, ‘crush on me hard’ but I think maybe we should go on a date first before we talk marriage.”

Luther’s mouth dropped open and Allison’s grin widened as Vanya slowly turned to face the man. “Um. I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”   
Five placed his empty cup on the counter and pulled out his wallet. “I will never find honesty inappropriate.” He fished a 20 dollar bill out and threw it on the counter to pay for the 99-cent cup of coffee, as he did every time he came in. “How about tomorrow?”  
“For what?”  
“Our date?”  
Vanya stood there, as if in a state of shock. She thought he was teasing her and now she didn’t know how to respond. “I, um…have to work tomorrow night.”  
Allison piped in, “I’ll take your shift. I owe you for last week anyway.” Vanya shot her a look and Allison just smiled and mouthed ‘you’re welcome.’  
“So, I can pick you up here…say 6 o’clock?”  
Vanya couldn’t speak, she just nodded.   
“Ok, see you then.” He smiled and nodded at Allison and Luther and turned and walked out the door. 

The bell brought Vanya back from whatever trance she was in. “What the hell just happened?”  
“You just got a date with sexy mystery man!” Allison started pumping her arms in triumph and Luther grabbed Vanya’s wrist and raised it into the air as if he was declaring her the winner in a boxing match. Mr. Pogo came out of the back room and inquired as to the ruckus. “You know that guy who comes in here wearing his Armani suits and pays us way too much for a black coffee?”  
“Ah yes, Miss Vanya’s ‘boyfriend.’” At least Pogo had the decency to use air quotes.   
“Yup, that one. She just made a date with him!”  
“Congratulations my dear!” Vanya wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out until Saturday, but she knew that would never happen. The four of them closed up shop and Mr. Pogo went upstairs to the apartment he had above the diner as Luther, Allison and Vanya headed for the subway.


	2. First date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya and Five go on their first date.

The next day was torture. She was barely out of bed and someone was already knocking on her door. She shuffled over to the door and opened it. Allison and her daughter were standing on the other side. “Get dressed!”  
“Why?”  
“We are going to take Claire to school and then we are going shopping.”  
“I don’t have to go shopping.”  
“Mommy said you need a new outfit if you are going to go out with the expensive suit guy.” Claire was lucky she was a cute 6-year-old, or Vanya would slam the door in their faces.   
Vanya whined, “man!” She left the door open as she trudged back to her bedroom. She quickly threw on some jeans and a shirt and plodded back to the living room where the two ladies were waiting for her. 

As she put her shoes on, Claire did what 6-year-olds do best. “Is he really handsome?”  
“I think so.”  
“Are you going to marry him?”  
“No. We’re just going on a date.”  
“Do you want to marry him?”  
“Claire, I don’t really know him very well yet.”  
“Do you love him?”  
Vanya sighed and looked to Allison for help. When she saw her friend’s wide grin, she knew she was not going to get it. “No. I don’t love him.”  
“Then why are you going out with him?”  
“OK! I’m ready to go. Let’s get you to school!” She grabbed her cardigan off a dining chair and ushered the two out and down the hall so she could get this over with.

Despite her initial protests, the day was quite fun. She liked hanging out with Allison and if she was completely honest with herself, she was nervous about what to wear for her date that night. Every time she saw Five he was wearing a suit that probably cost more than her rent. He was always well groomed and looked (and smelled) like he had money. The nicest thing she owned was a sundress that was not only out of season but purchased at a thrift store for 3 bucks. 

After leaving the third store with nothing in hand, Vanya tried to reason with Allison. “He knows I work at a diner, it’s not like he’s expecting me to show up in some Versace gown.”  
“I’m not concerned with how much money we spend today. If we find something for 10 bucks that makes his jaw drop and a little bit of drool come out…I’ll call that a win.”  
Vanya rolled her eyes but secretly thought about how nice it would be for him to be speechless for a change. 

They had just finished lunch and were passing a consignment store when Allison squealed and grabbed Vanya by the hand, dragging her into the shop. She nearly tripped when Allison let go of her hand to rush to the woman working the counter. “Please, please, pleeease tell me that the black dress in the window is a size 2.”   
The woman came around the front and went to retrieve the dress. She checked the tag and looked at the two friends and smiled. “I think we’re in luck!”

Minutes later, Vanya was exiting the changing room wearing a black, half sleeve cocktail dress that hugged her curves on top and flared out below the waist. It was beautiful. Allison and the clerk’s faces told her that she was not alone in thinking it. “Oh Vanya.”  
“What?” She looked down, wondering if it didn’t fit like she thought it did.  
“Girl, he is going to forget his damn name when he sees you in that.”  
Vanya blushed, but addressed the clerk. “I guess I’ll take it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Vanya was sitting in the back seat of Luther and Allison’s car. He insisted on driving them to the diner because of her nice new outfit and the fact that he didn’t work that evening and never liked Allison taking the subway alone. Claire was sitting next to her and continuing her bombardment of questioning. “If you do get married, can be your flower girl?”  
“Uh, Sure.”  
“Can I pick my own dress out? I was the flower girl at my cousin’s wedding, and I didn’t get to pick. It was hideous.”  
“Sure” Vanya absentmindedly answered the girl’s questions while staring out the window, wondering what the hell she was doing. She didn’t even know this guy. All she knew about him was his name (and only his first name, at that), the fact that he drank his coffee black and that he had enough money to tip 19 bucks on every cup of coffee he got there. He could be a complete psycho or a nutjob or something. She started to have second thoughts when they pulled into the parking lot of the little diner. 

“If that’s not his…I’m Michelle Obama.” Vanya followed Allison’s gaze to a jet black sports car that looked very out of place in the parking lot of a shitty diner like Griddy’s.   
“Holy shit.”   
“Luther!” Allison scolded as Claire giggled.  
“That’s an Aston Martin DB11.”  
“Ok.”   
Luther climbed out of their car and walked over to it. “This is like a $250,000 car.”  
Vanya’s mouth dropped open and suddenly her $30 dress and $20 shoes seemed extremely inadequate for even riding in this thing. A voice behind them startled her and she turned to see Five walking up to the group. “Actually, I only paid 200 for it…I know a guy.” He looked Vanya up and down before locking eyes with her. “You look amazing.”  
She suddenly noticed how hot she was. Then, she noticed how hot he was. He was wearing one of his suits, but this time there was no tie, just a sport coat over a dress shirt that had a few of the top buttons undone. “You clean up pretty good yourself.”   
Vanya nearly forgot that they were not alone when Claire broke into the circle of adults and addressed Five. “Vanya said that when you get married, I can be the flower girl and I can pick my own dress.” There was no way Vanya could mask the horrified look on her face as she searched her brain for the right thing to say. Five beat her to it. “Well of course. I wouldn’t trust anyone to handle the very important task of styling the flower girl to anyone but you.” He winked at the girl and she smiled, taking her father’s hand, extremely proud of herself.

“Well,” Luther stepped up to Allison and gave her a kiss. “You have a good night, I will pick you up later.” He turned and offered his hand to Five, who shook it. “Nice to see you again.”  
“Likewise.”  
“You hurt Vanya, I’ll kick your ass.”  
“Naturally.” 

Allison went into the diner and Luther escorted Claire to their car, leaving Vanya and Five alone in the parking lot. “Shall we?” He opened the passenger side door and she slid into the most comfortable car seat she had ever sat on. He closed her door and went around the other side to get in. As he started up the car, the roar of the engine made Vanya jump a little, he smiled. “Don’t be so nervous.” She looked at him as he pulled the car out onto the street. “It’s just a date.”

For the first time in her life, Vanya rolled up to a valet parking station. A man in a red vest opened the door for her as another opened Five’s. She took the offered hand and stepped out onto the sidewalk as Five reached her and handed the man his keys and the man handed him back a ticket. Five put his hand on the small of her back and led her into the restaurant. She had definitely heard of this place. Vanya loved reading gossip magazines and everybody who’s anybody eats here. She also happened to know that the reservation list was about 6 months long. She leaned over and whispered, “How did you get a table on a days’ notice?”  
Five leaned over and whispered back. “The owner owes me a favor.” 

As if to hammer home his point, when they walked through the doors, a man rushed over to them and shook Five’s hand. “Mr. Hargreeves!” He waved his maître d away and attended to them himself. He grabbed two menus and led them to a quiet table in the back of the room. He waited until they were seated and handed them the menus. “Alyssa will be your server this evening, I will have her bring out some water and a wine list for when you make your dinner selection.”  
“Thank you, Mr. Greer.”  
“It’s a pleasure to serve you, Mr. Hargreeves.” The owner left them to look at their menus and Five spoke from behind his. “I swear if you make your selection based on price, I’ll leave you here to wash dishes for the next 3 months.” Vanya looked up to see him smiling as he pretended that the menu was the most interesting thing he would read all year. She smiled and attempted to ignore the numbers as she searched for something to order.

After their food and wine was ordered she finally came to a realization. “Oh my god, Hargreeves.” Five just waited for her to put two and two together. “Reginald Hargreeves is…”  
“My father.”  
“Oh shit. He owns, like, half of the hotels in New York.”   
“Well, he’s dead, so…technically I own half the hotels in New York.”  
“Oh that’s right…I’m so sorry.”  
“Don’t be.” Five smiled, loving every second of her awkwardness. “He was a dick.”   
Vanya took a sip of her water, trying to mask the confusion on her face. “What is it?”  
“Nothing,” she said, “just…He died pretty recently didn’t he?”  
Five thought for a moment. “Yeah, couple of months. Why?”  
Vanya suddenly felt very nosey. “It’s nothing…just my brain working overtime. I read too many detective novels.”  
Five put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, propping his chin on his hands. “Oooh, do tell. You think I murdered the old bastard?”  
“No! nothing like that. It’s just…Did you get an allowance or something?”  
“Huh?”  
“I mean if he just died, that only gave you a couple of months to sort his affairs and buy that fancy car and nice clothes.” She could see his face turn from intrigued to amused.   
“Vanya.”  
“Yes?”  
“I had a job long before the old man kicked it. The inheritance was just a bonus.” He took a drink of his water, Vanya unable to help herself from watching his lips as he did so. “I didn’t need his help to become rich.”  
“Oh.” 

She was relieved when the waitress came with their food. The awkwardness of the conversation turned back to pleasant as they ate and talked. They fell into a rhythm of two people who had known each other for years. She liked talking to him. He was funny, charming, and he talked like a regular person, not like she thought a stuck-up rich guy should speak. He talked about how he was brought up mostly by nannies as his mother had died in childbirth and how he had no siblings and she talked about her abundance of brothers and asked if he wanted one. 

She explained that she grew up in a foster home where she had three brothers and one of them was now married, giving her a fourth. “They are an…eclectic bunch.”  
“Do they all live here?”  
“No. Nebraska.”  
“Ooh, exotic.”  
She laughed, “Yeah, it was a nice change of pace to move to the quiet living of New York City from the mean streets of Omaha.”  
“What do they do?”  
“Well, Ben is a high school teacher. He introduced Dave, my brother-in-law, who is also a teacher, to my brother Klaus. They got married about two years ago. Klaus is…a free spirit.”  
“Ah, one of those.”  
“Yeah, but he’s my dopey brother and I love him.”  
“You said you had three.”  
“Oh Diego. He’s a detective. One of those, hard exterior with a heart of gold types.”   
“Three older brothers, I bet you didn’t get to go on any dates in high school.”  
“None that they didn’t approve, which was very few.”  
Five took a sip of his wine, “Gee, I hope I pass the muster.”  
Vanya shot him a look, “What makes you think you’re even getting a second date?”  
He put his glass down and slid toward her in the booth so he could lean in. He leaned so close that had she moved an inch forward they would be kissing. He tilted his head as if to kiss her but just whispered, “I think we both know I’m getting a second date.” He winked and sat back in the booth and Vanya let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

He pulled his car in front of her building and she waited for him to come around and open the door for her. He offered her his hand and he helped her out of the car, not letting go of it as he walked her to the door. She turned and leaned her back on the door as she fumbled in her purse for her keys. When she found them, she looked up to find herself staring into his dark, blue eyes. When they locked eyes, a million thoughts ran through her head. ‘Should she kiss him? Should she invite him up? If she just said goodnight, would he think she didn’t enjoy herself? If she did more, would he think she was easy?’

Her thoughts were cut off when he leaned in and pressed his lips gently to hers. His hands went to her hips and she responded by throwing her arms up and around his neck, deepening the kiss. It was marvelous. She wanted it to last forever, but she also knew that she needed to breath eventually. Five once again seemed to read her mind as he regrettably pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. He said in a whisper nearly too soft to hear, “Good night Vanya.” He slowly backed away from her with a grin on his face, only turning around once he reached the curb. He got into the car and the engine roared to life. He rolled his window down and poked his head out, shouting at something above her head. “Goodnight Luther!”   
“Good night,” came the voice from the second story window. Five winked at her and settled back into the seat. The car pulled away from the curb, leaving Vanya leaning against the door, breathless.


	3. What do the simple folk do?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya go on their second date. This time, Five finds out how the other half live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of this chapter comes from the musical Camelot.

The next afternoon, Vanya was waiting outside the building for Allison. When she finally walked out, she crossed her arms in front of her and started tapping her foot in annoyance. “What?” Vanya asked.  
“I thought we were friends.”   
“We are.”  
“Then how come I have to hear from my husband that sexy mystery man kissed you last night?”  
Vanya felt her cheeks get red with embarrassment. She turned and started walking toward the subway station. “It was no big deal. Just a first date kind of kiss.”  
Allison trotted to catch up, linking her arm with Vanya’s. “That’s not what Luther said. He said that it looked like you two were going to pass out due to lack of oxygen.”  
“We were not going to pass out due to lack of oxygen. And by the way…Luther didn’t need to be creeping on me like that.”  
“Don’t blame him. I told him to wait for you.”  
“Oh, were you worried about me?”  
“Not exactly.” Allison’s face scrunched up. “I just wanted to know if you invited him up.”  
“Allison!” Vanya tried to mask her smile but failed. The two women giggled as they got on the subway, discussing Five the whole ride to work.

Their arms were still linked as they walked into the diner. It was a very busy afternoon and the two of them hustled back to the office to put up their coats and get ready for their shift. Vanya exited the back room and found herself face to face with Five. He greeted her with a casual, “Hey.”  
“Oh, uh…hi.” She unconsciously reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as he smiled, watching her every move. She looked him up and down, noting another gorgeous suit, this one a charcoal gray. “Don’t you own jeans?”  
He laughed. “I realized that I left last night without getting your number.”  
“Oh shit!” She turned back to the office and nearly knocked Allison over as she came out of the door.   
“Oh hey, Five.”  
“Allison.”  
Allison looked at her watch and grinned. “Less than 12 hours.” She looked at Vanya. “The dress totally worked.” With that she headed out to the floor to get to work.

Vanya blushed. “Sorry. Luther and Allison are really sweet, but they don’t really mind their own business.”  
“It’s ok. She’s wrong though.”  
“Huh?”  
“It wasn’t the dress…it was the kiss that totally worked.”  
Vanya chuckled nervously. “Let me go grab a piece of paper and give you my number.” She tried to turn around, but he caught her arm and pulled her back to face him. His other hand handed her his cell, already on the contacts page. “Oh, right.” She quickly typed her information in and handed it back.  
“I’ll send you a text, so you’ll have mine.”  
“Cool.” She could feel the annoyed looks from her co-workers on her back. “I should get to work. I’m off tomorrow night if you want to do something?”  
“Can’t.” Vanya barely contained her disappointment. “I have to go out of town on business. I’ll be back Wednesday…when are you free after that?”  
“Uh, Thursday.” She reached up and took hold of his lapels, bolder than she thought she was capable of. “This time, I pick what we do.”  
He leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “I look forward to it.”

He left the diner and Vanya started busying herself with customers while keeping him in the back of her mind. On her break, she went to check her cell and found a new text waiting. It was from just a number, and when she opened it, it simply read: “Let me know where to meet you on Thursday…I’ll even buy a pair of jeans for the occasion.”

After texting him back, telling him that jeans would be perfect for the date she had in mind, the two simply didn’t stop texting the rest of the week. They would send each other little jokes or gifs, each one seemingly designed to put a smile on her face. He asked several times what she was planning for Thursday, but Vanya told him it was a surprise. She wasn’t the only one being coy, however. When she asked where he was or what exactly was this business trip that he was on, he would always change the subject. She made herself a mental note to dig a little more into this if they became a serious item but for now, they were just having fun and she wasn’t going to let a little mystery ruin it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They pulled into the parking lot and Five turned off the engine giving her a side glance. “Bowling?”  
“Yup!” Vanya didn’t wait for him to open her door. She hopped out and walked to the other side of the car as he closed his door behind him. She grabbed his hand and they walked toward the door. “This is what poor people do for fun. Drink a pitcher of shitty beer and pretend that they aren’t pissed that they can’t break 100.” Five couldn’t help but smile as her excitement was contagious. Inside, they signed up for a lane, rented some shoes (against Five’s protests), and Vanya started entering their names in the computer.

Despite his earlier doubts, Five found himself really enjoying his evening. Most of that was due to Vanya, but some of it was due to the second pitcher of ‘shitty beer’ and really letting loose, not worrying about what anyone in his normal social circles (if you can call any part of his life ‘social’) would think. 

After his third gutter ball in a row, he growled in frustration. Walking over to Vanya who was finishing off her current glass of beer, he leaned against the tall table, partly to try to be smooth, partly because he was getting a bit tipsy. “You know, not to brag or anything, but this is the first time in my life that I haven’t succeeded at something.” Vanya giggled, putting her hand to her mouth to wipe up a small drop of beer that dribbled out. “It’s really pissing me off.”  
“I told you.” She leaned forward, putting her hands on his chest. “Drink shitty beer and get pissed off that you can’t break 100.” She stood on her tip toes to place a chaste kiss on the tip of his nose before turning and walking to the lane to take her turn. 

When they finished up their third game with Vanya bubbling with excitement over her 97 and Five eeking out a paltry 62, they sat in comfortable silence as they changed back into their street shoes. Vanya grabbed the two pairs of rentals and walked them over to the counter. Five followed right behind and grimaced as the man sprayed the shoes with some sort of disinfectant. “That’s all they do?”  
“Yup.” Vanya took his hand and pulled him with her toward the door and into the parking lot. 

They got to the car and Vanya looked down at the door, then back at Five. “Oh no!”  
“What?”  
“Neither of us can drive! And I KNOW you aren’t leaving this car in this neighborhood overnight.”  
“Don’t worry, my sweet Vanya.” He reached up and tapped her nose with his index finger. “I already called Hazel.” He kept hold of her hand and led her back to sit on the curb in front of the bowling alley.   
Vanya let go of his hand so she could cross her arms in front of her and narrow her eyes. “Who’s Hazel and why the hell are you calling her while you are out with me?”  
Five smirked and watched as her head tilted, trying to look angry but only managing to look adorable. “You are cute when you get jealous. I’m going to have to remember that.”  
“Not funny.” She turned her head to avoid his gaze.   
“Hazel works for me. And HE…” She peeked at him out the corner of her eyes. “Is on his way to pick us up.”  
“Oh.” Her face turned red. “Sorry.”  
“It’s ok.”  
Vanya reached down and took his hand in hers once again. “Then what are we going to do?”  
“Well, that’s up to you.”  
“Me?”  
“Yup. I figure you have a couple of options. One, you can tell Hazel your address and we can drop you off, then you and I share another mind-blowing goodnight kiss...” He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “That is not a terrible option. Or, Two, you could tell him to just bring you to my place and we can replace that kiss with some Earth-shattering sex.” 

Vanya sat with her mouth slightly open, not sure what to say. How the hell did he do that? How was he so confident that a suggestion that would get anyone else slapped on a second date coming from him seemed so…enticing? “Earth-shattering, huh?”  
Five didn’t respond, he simply looked her straight in the eyes and raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded his head. 

Vanya was about to say something when a cab pulled into the lot. A very large, very intimidating man got out of the back seat and greeted Five. “Mr. Hargreeves.” The two men didn’t seem to need to speak to know what their arrangement consisted of. Five walked over and handed the big man the keys to his car before grabbing his wallet and paying for the cab. He then met Vanya at the car, and they slipped into the back seat as Hazel got in the front.

“Where to?” Hazel looked in the rear-view mirror at the couple and pretended not to notice Vanya jump a bit at the question.   
Five never took his eyes off her. “Yeah, where to?”  
She looked into his eyes and then let her eyes lower to his lips. She remembered how great the kiss was and what she did to herself later that night thinking about the kiss. She also wondered what kind of girl slept with a guy on their second date, mere months after meeting him for the first time. Her mind swarmed with the possibilities and what each option meant going on in their relationship. Finally, she smiled and without taking her eyes off Five’s, she said, “I think Five’s apartment please Hazel.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earth shattering was the understatement of the year. Vanya had never felt this way with anyone before. Sure, she had boyfriends and some of them even became lovers but Five was different. He seemed to master the art of going excruciatingly slow and furiously fast at the same time. Every move and every touch seemed to be calculated to bring her the highest amount of pleasure. At one point, she wasn’t even sure he was having a good time. He was concentrating so hard on her to the point that she actually stopped to ask him if he needed anything. When he smiled and answered, “Just you.” It nearly sent her over the edge without needing what he was doing with his body, although, she sure as hell wasn’t about to have him stop.

Afterward, at the point when most of her past conquests would have long since left or simply fallen asleep, she found herself on her side, face to face with Five, who was holding her hand with one of his and absentmindedly stroking the side of her face with the other. His eyes were sleepy, yet not tired. “Thank you.”  
She let out a little chuckle. “For what?”  
“Choosing option two.”  
“My pleasure.”  
“I certainly hope so.” He shifted forward to press his lips against hers and she sighed into the kiss. He plopped his head back down on the pillow and put his arm around her, pulling her close so that his chin could rest on the top of her head. For the second time, he spoke to her in nearly a whisper, sending shivers down her spine as he said, “Goodnight Vanya.” They fell into a comfortable sleep and Vanya couldn’t help but wonder what the future held for her and her mystery man.


	4. Meeting the Ex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya go on a double date with Luther and Allison. Someone from Vanya's past shows up to ruin the fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know Leonard had to show up eventually.
> 
> I do hint at an abusive relationship. Nothing is described in detail, but if this kind of thing bothers you, rest assured that I will not go too deep, just a plot devise to make Leonard that much more douchey. (As if he needed my help).

Vanya had only been exclusive with three guys her whole life. The first was in High School when she thought that she and Frank Logan were soul mates and they shared 4 glorious months as boyfriend and girlfriend before he dumped her for some cheerleader. She was heartbroken but soldiered on. Next, she dated a cellist for a while. He was a nice enough guy, but they wanted different things for the future, so they decided to just be friends. Lastly was Leonard. 

At first, Leonard was the sweetest man in the world. She really thought that he was the one. Then he started hitting her. She was ashamed at how long she let it go. She had always heard stories about women going back to abusive men and wondered why the hell would they do that, but finding herself in that exact situation, it was harder than she thought. Looking back on it objectively she knew it was a mixture of low self esteem and fear. She was afraid of Leonard but also afraid of not having him. When she finally left (with the help of Allison), she vowed to be very choosy about her next long-term relationship.

Five was the opposite of Leonard. He was confident without being cocky, bold without being pushy, and most importantly, he treated her not only as a girlfriend, but as a partner. She always had equal say in what ever decisions they needed to make. It also helped that she was most definitely treated as an equal in bed. Their lovemaking never seemed like it was one sided. Each member of the pair was well taken care of, often several times a night.

If she had only one complaint, it was that they had been together, officially, for nearly 4 months now and she still didn’t know what he did for a living. Every time someone brought it up, he skirted the question saying he was an “independent contractor’ who worked for the government and the private sector. 

“Security mostly.” Five said between bites of Fettuccine Alfredo at his favorite Italian restaurant. He and Vanya finally found a night where Luther and Allison could get a sitter and join them for a double date. “Most of the other stuff I can’t really talk about due to non-disclosure agreements and top-secret clearances.”  
“So, you’re a spy.” Luther said before taking a sip of his wine.  
“I wish.” Five chuckled, he had fallen into a comfortable friendship with Luther. They had all been spending time together whether it was at the diner or at Luther and Allison’s apartment and he had grown to really like the pair. “That would be way cooler than the boring shit I actually do.”  
“Bummer. I was hoping to have a friend who was a spy.”  
“Sorry to disappoint.”

Allison and Vanya watched as they talked more about spies and how James Bond was the man. “They really are simple creatures aren’t they”   
Vanya smiled, “Yeah. Hot cars, cool gadgets, and a woman who tolerates him…what more does a man need?”  
“Beer.” Luther added to the list.  
“Pizza.” Five chimed in.  
“Well,” Allison grinned. “At least we made the list.”

The causal conversation was good for Five. He usually spent his free time alone or with Hazel and he wasn’t really a talker. He let the others chat while he thought back to his childhood, knowing that the reason he has always preferred isolation is because he thought that’s what life was like. His father (if you could call him that), spent all of Five’s life grooming him to take over his business someday. He smiled as he thought about the day he told his old man that he was going to do something different with his life. 

“Hey.” He was brought out of his thoughts by Vanya putting her hand on his knee. “Where are you?”  
“Right here…sorry.”  
The waiter brought the check and Five snatched it out of his hand before Luther could get to it. “Ah ah ah, we invited you out.”  
“We can split it.”  
“Nope. When you ask someone out on a date, you pay.” He pulled out his credit card and handed it back to the waiter.   
“Are you saying this is a date?” Luther smirked. “Do we have to put out?”  
“Luther!” Allison slapped his arm as the table erupted into laughter.

The group filed out into the street talking and laughing as they turned toward the parking garage. Luther and Allison were all over each other due to what Allison called ‘night off from the kid syndrome.’ Five and Vanya simply stayed back, holding hands and letting them have their moment. 

He suddenly felt her grip tighten and saw her tense up out the corner of his eye. He also noticed Allison and Luther stop their high school make-out session to stare at the man approaching the group. As the man approached, Luther took a step toward him and the man threw up his hands in defense. “Hey big guy, settle down. I just want to talk.”  
“She has nothing to say to you.”  
The man looked around Luther’s big frame trying to catch Vanya’s eye. “Vanya, I just want to talk.”  
Five put his hand around Vanya’s shoulder and leaned toward her. “Who is this guy?”  
Vanya was visibly shaken, and she stuttered a bit as she answered, “L-Leonard.”

Five immediately dropped his arm and walked forward with a purpose. He breezed past Luther and put his hand on Leonard’s shoulder, digging his fingers in as he led him away from the group and into a nearby alleyway. Allison went to Vanya and put her arm around her. “Are you ok, honey?”   
“Yeah.”   
Luther kept his eyes on the alley. “Does Five know who that is?”  
“Yeah, we talked about him once.” She tried to see what was happening in the alley. “What is he doing?”  
“Hopefully kicking his ass.” Luther grunted.

Leonard suddenly appeared at the end of the alley. He shot a terrified look at Vanya and rushed off in the other direction. Five strolled out of the alley behind him and walked back to the group, throwing his arm around Vanya once again. “Shall we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five sat on Vanya’s couch as she bustled around the kitchen grabbing a glass of wine for Five and a beer for her. She walked over, handed him the glass and plopped down on the other side of the couch, throwing her feet up onto his lap. “What did you say to Leonard?”  
Five put his glass down on the coffee table and started massaging her feet. “I just told him that you were with me now and he needed to move on with his life.”  
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “He didn’t look like you just had a calm little chat.”  
“I may have implied that if he didn’t, I would let Luther loose on his ass.”   
Vanya smiled and put her beer down. She scooted forward on the couch and pulled herself onto his lap. “My hero.”  
“Well, I can’t do it.” He reached up and started running his fingers through her hair.  
“Because you’re a pacifist?” She leaned forward to kiss him gently on the corner of his mouth.  
“No.” He looked down and slowly stroked the front of his jacket. “This is a $3,000 suit. I am not ruining it with that ass hole’s blood.”  
“So romantic.” 

Five pulled her into a kiss. It was rough and demanding, and she was here for it. She stood up and started walking to the bedroom, stripping as she went. When she reached the door, she glanced back as she dropped the last piece of clothing, leaving her completely naked. As she disappeared into the room, he heard her ask, “You coming, or what?”  
Five bolted out of his seat and all thoughts about his expensive suit went right out the window as he rushed to rip it from his body and followed her into the bedroom.


	5. The big move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya take the next step in their relationship, and something happens to make Vanya question the man she fell in love with.

The next morning, Five was making coffee as Vanya cooked them some breakfast. After bumping into each other for the third time, he chuckled. “You need a bigger kitchen.”  
“I need a bigger everything.” She scooped the eggs and bacon out of the pan and onto plates as Five poured the coffee. “But needing does not equal getting.”

She put one plate in front of him and set hers down before settling into her chair. She picked up a piece of bacon and was about to start in on it when she noticed he was staring at her. “What?”  
“My place has a huge kitchen.”  
She bit down on the bacon, slowly chewing as she realized what he meant by the statement. “Yes it does.”  
“A huge kitchen that I never use. It’s a waste really.” He took a piece of egg and brought it to his mouth, speaking over it before shoving it into his mouth. “You should move in with me.”

Vanya really was at a loss for words. Here was a man she had literally known for 6 months. The first two were as a customer at her work who came in occasionally and bought a coffee, chatting for a few minutes and leaving. The next four went so fast she could hardly believe that they had gotten so close, both physically and emotionally. Now he was asking her to move in with him? “Uh…I…what?”  
Five smiled. “Move in with me.”  
She took another bite of bacon to give herself time to think. She chewed for an excruciatingly long time, as Five went about eating his breakfast as if he hadn’t just asked her such a huge question. Finally, unable to chew anymore, she swallowed and looked up at him. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”  
“Not really. We spend so much time together as it is.” He saw a look of panic on her face. “Which I love. And as often as I’m away for business, it will be like it’s your apartment anyway and I’m just visiting when I’m home.”

Vanya thought about it and he wasn’t wrong. He was away a lot and when he was home, they spent most of their free time together so what would it matter where she slept when he was away? He did have a big kitchen, and a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and two full walk-in closets in the master bedroom. Before she knew it, she was imagining where she would put all her things in his already sparsely decorated home. She took a sip of coffee and shook her head while grinning. “I’ll have to give notice here first.” Five beamed and didn’t stop smiling the rest of breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vanya was nervous about trying to break her lease. She didn’t want it ruining her credit, but she also wasn’t sure she could wait another 4 months to be with Five permanently. When she finally got the nerve to talk to her landlord about it she found him to be more understanding than she thought. “It’s OK honey.” He handed her the paperwork for the move out and grinned. “Your boyfriend took care of it.”  
“What?”  
“He paid the early move out fee. He also paid a couple months rent just in case I couldn’t find someone right away. Nice guy you got there.”  
“Yeah, he’s pretty great.” She took the papers and headed back to her place to start packing. 

“You won’t forget about us back here on the poor side of town, right?” Allison said between closing one box and grabbing another empty to start filling with books.   
“I don’t know.” Vanya sighed. “I may just become so full of myself that I’ll need some new friends. You know, ones who are shallow and don’t eat Ramen noodles.”  
“Don’t let Luther hear you knocking Ramen. He would never speak to you again.”  
The women laughed as they continued to pack up everything Vanya was bringing with her. She resigned herself to only bringing the basics as Five said anything she needed, he’d buy for her new. She decided that they could be together for the next 20 years and she’d never get over his nonchalance about spending his money. 

“I’m gonna miss you.” Allison said while holding a stuffed sloth to her chest and frowning.   
“I’m not quitting my job; I’ll still see you like every other day.”  
“I know, but it’s nice to have you in the building. A place to go when Luther drives me nuts.”  
“So…all the time.”   
“Yeah.”  
Vanya chuckled and took the sloth from her quickly shoving it into the box marked ‘bedroom.’  
“You think Five will be ok sharing a bed with him?”  
“He better! Andrew and I have a bond that no man may tear apart. Besides, he was sharing my bed long before Five.”

“Who?” Five walked into the open door as the women giggled. “Who is sharing your bed?”  
“Andrew.”   
“Oh shit, he’s moving in too?”  
“He’s adorable.”  
“He’s intimidating.” Five walked over and took the sloth out of the box, looking it in the eyes. “I could never measure up.”  
Vanya took it back before reaching up and kissing him on the lips. “But you try, and that’s all that matters.” She batted her eyes, trying to stifle a laugh as Five started helping pack the contents of her bookcase. 

“The movers will be here tomorrow. They will take anything in a box to my place, then come back for the rest for donation.”  
“Our place.”   
He caught her eye and smiled. “Our place.”  
Allison made a production out of taping up the box she was currently working on. “If you two need some time, I can leave.”  
“No.” Five shook his head. “Actually, I’m the one who has to get going.”  
“Already?” Vanya walked over to him and put her arms around his waist, looking up as he cupped her face in his hands.   
“Yeah, my flight leaves at 6.”  
“When will you be back?”  
“Monday.” He leaned down and kissed her before asking. “You good?”  
“Yeah, I’m just going to bask in the glory of my fancy new apartment. You know, eat junk food in front of your crazy ass tv and not get dressed after lounging in the Jacuzzi, just wander around naked for a few days.”  
Five groaned as Allison laughed. “Ready to cancel that trip yet?”  
“I wish.” He gave Vanya another quick kiss and reluctantly let her go. “Enjoy yourself, but not too much.” He turned to leave but as he reached the door he stopped and whirled around. “Oh right!” He reached for his wallet as he walked over to her. He pulled out a credit card and handed it to her. “Happy housewarming.”  
She reached out and took the card, and after seeing her name on it shot her eyes up to look at him.   
“You’ll need it for groceries. I don’t have any junk food at present time.” He winked and turned around again and before she could protest, he was out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vanya thought it would take longer to get accustomed to sleeping in a new place. She underestimated the feel of having a king-sized bed all to herself. As she snuggled into the Egyptian cotton sheets and down comforter on her third night in Five's bed, she couldn’t help but snicker at the thought of telling him that when he came home tomorrow, he would have to sleep on the couch. 

She was woken around 2am by the sound of the front door closing. She froze at the realization that Five wasn’t due back until that afternoon. She sat in the dark as she listened to the intruder stumble through the living room and into the bathroom. When she heard the faucet turn on, the fear turned to confusion. Did someone break into the apartment to use the bathroom sink?

She knew that Hazel was downstairs in his apartment. Five said that if she needed anything, she was to go get him. She figured that a stranger in her apartment wanting to do God knows what to her qualified as needing something. If she could just get to her phone in the kitchen she could sneak out and call him on the way down. 

She slowly creeped out the bedroom door and tiptoed past the bathroom. She swiped her phone off the counter and started back toward the front door when she heard a familiar voice coming out of the bathroom. “Shit.”   
Vanya stopped in her tracks. She made her way to the bathroom and slowly pushed the door open to find Five doubled over the sink, the first aid kit spread out on the counter in front of him. He had his shirt off and she saw a massive bruise forming on his side. “Five?” He turned toward her, and she saw a split lip to match the bruise. “Holy shit!” She rushed toward him and frantically started sifting through the kit to find what she needed to help.

Five reached out and took her hands in his and turned her to face him. “I’m ok.” She shook her head and tried to get out of his grasp. “Vanya. I’m ok.”  
“What happened?”  
“I...got mugged.”  
“Oh my God, we have to call the police!”  
“No!” His abruptness startled her out of her panic. “I mean, the guy’s long gone by now and I don’t really want a trip to the hospital. I don’t think anything’s broken. I just need to clean up and go to bed.”  
They looked at each other for a minute before she finally spoke. “Ok.” He let her hands go and went back to cleaning the blood off his face. Vanya patted his shoulder before heading back to the bedroom to get him some clean clothes. 

Five got out of the shower and reached for the towel. He smiled when he saw the pajamas laid out on the counter for him. He quickly got dressed and shuffled to the bedroom, finding Vanya sitting awake leaning against the headboard. “Hey.” He tried to sound casual but knew he was failing miserably.  
“Are you sure you’re ok?”  
“Yeah.” He pulled back the sheets and climbed in next to her as she shifted down to a laying position. He scooted himself over, so he was resting his head on her shoulder and she instinctively put a hand up and started running her fingers through his hair. “I am now.”


	6. The Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya finds out Five's big secret. What will this do to their relationship?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I'm an asshole.

Vanya walked into the diner and waved at Allison who was already tying on her apron. “You’re early. Five is definitely a good influence on you.”  
“Ha, ha.” She threw her coat in the office and grabbed her apron. “It’s just easier to be on time when you don’t have to catch the subway.”  
“So, how’s domestic life?”  
“It’s good.”   
Vanya didn’t sound too convinced and Allison put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing, it’s just…did we move too fast?”  
“Oh Vanya. Love follows no rules or order. Luther and I got married after only dating a year!”  
“Yeah but you two grew up together, you were basically siblings.”  
“Seriously? Gross.”  
The two giggled and then fell into a comfortable flow. As they worked they chatted with each other and their regulars.

About an hour into her shift, the door bell dinged and Vanya turned around ready to grab some menus when she froze. Leonard walked through the door and put his hands up as if being held hostage. “Relax. I seriously just want to talk.”  
Allison came around the counter and put herself between him and Vanya. “Well you better find someone else to talk to because you are definitely not welcome here.”  
“Listen, I just wanted to warn Vanya about her new boyfriend.”  
“Oh that’s rich coming from you.” Allison took a step forward and put her finger in his chest. “Is he going to put her in the hospital with a busted arm? Oh no wait, that was her last boyfriend!”

Vanya slowly peeked around Allison as she put her hand on her friend’s arm, pushing it down. “What do you mean? Warn me about him how?”  
“Vanya.” Allison pleaded.  
“No, it’s ok. Let him talk.”  
Leonard took a deep breath and told the story about what happened in the alley.

~~~~~~~~The Alley~~~~~~~~~~

Five dug his fingers deep into Leonard’s shoulder and led him into the alley. When they were out of the view of the others, Five roughly pushed him against the wall. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Leonard tried his best to sound tough as Five towered above him.   
“I’m the guy who is doing everything in his power to not beat you to within an inch of your life right now.” He finally let go of his shoulder, moving both hands to Leonard’s collar, gripping it and speaking slowly, and deliberately. “You have a family Leonard?”  
Leonard was temporarily more confused than scared. “What?”  
“A family. Wife, kids, siblings, parents?”  
“Um. My Mom’s all I’ve got really.”  
“Ok, that’s good. I’m going to make a deal with you.”  
“Alright.”   
“You leave Vanya alone. You don’t talk to her; you don’t walk on the same side of the street as her. Hell, you don’t even think about her. If you do…”  
“Let me guess, you’ll kick my ass.”  
“Nope. I’m going to find out where your Mom lives, and I’m going to go over there and slit her Goddamn throat.” He let go of Leonard’s collar and smoothed it out with his hands before plastering a wide grin on his face. “Do we understand each other Leonard?”  
“Yeah.” Leonard didn’t wait for Five to change his mind and bolted out of the alley, throwing one last glance at the group before rushing back down the street.

~~~~~~~~The Diner~~~~~~~~

Allison scoffed and rolled her eyes, but Vanya stayed stoic as she stared at Leonard. Allison noticed Vanya staring and spoke quickly. “You can’t seriously be believing this crap?”  
“He’s done something hasn’t he?” Leonard injected. “Something to worry you?”  
“What, like love her without beating the shit out of her? Yeah, that would suck!”  
“Allison. It’s ok. Leonard, you should go.”  
“Vanya, I just want to take care of you.”  
Vanya finally looked him in the eyes. “You never wanted to take care of me. You wanted to control me, to show me how little I was, how I was nothing without you. I hate you. Get out.”  
“It’s a free country.”  
“But this is a private business.” Mr Pogo appeared from the office, walking toward the group. “And you are not welcome here. Leave now or I will call the police.” Leonard huffed and turned to leave, not even giving the diner a last glance before slamming the door open and exiting into the parking lot.

“I have to go.” Vanya rushed back to the office and grabbed her coat.   
“Miss Vanya. Where are you going?”  
“I have to catch Five. He has a flight in a couple of hours and won’t be back for a week. I have to talk to him.”  
Allison took her hand. “You don’t really believe that ass hole, do you?”  
“I don’t know what I believe, Allison. Five’s been…weird lately. I just need to know what’s going on and I don’t know if I can wait a week.” She looked at Pogo, her eyes pleading for permission.   
“Go.” He smiled. “Take the night off, I’m sure with Miss Allison’s help I can remember how to wait tables.”  
“Thanks.” She ran out and headed back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vanya slowly pushed the door to the apartment open and peered inside. “Five?” She stepped further in and saw his open bag sitting on the couch, and heard the sounds of the shower running. She sighed, suddenly feeling ridiculous at the thought that she actually rushed home to confront Five with something Leonard said. She moved over to the couch as she tried to convince herself that everything that has been happening was just coincidence and paranoia.

She plopped down on the couch and was trying to decide how to explain her presence when she glanced over to his open bag and froze. She reached in, not believing her eyes and slowly pulled her hand back just as Five exited the bathroom. He was finishing buttoning his shirt when he looked up and saw her. There sat Vanya, holding his gun and staring right at him.

“Vanya.” He stood, frozen to that spot, not quite sure what to say. “I…”  
“Don’t.” She looked down at the gun and gently put it on the coffee table in front of her. Looking back up at him she tried her best to remain calm. “What do you do for a living?”  
“Vanya.” He took a step forward and she hastily jumped up, taking two steps away.   
“What. Do you do. For a living?”  
Five brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck, trying to choose the right words. Any words that wouldn’t lose him the one thing he needed more than anything. He finally decided that blunt honesty was the only thing that his bluntly honest woman would tolerate. He looked her straight in the eye and, as even as he could manage, finally spoke. “I’m a hitman.”

Tears welled up in Vanya’s eyes, threatening to betray her calm exterior. She willed herself to keep it together as she spoke. “You lied to me.”  
“No, I didn’t. Not exactly.” Five’s heart nearly broke when he saw the look of betrayal on her face. “I didn’t lie. I really do work security and intelligence. I just also…”  
“Kill people.”  
He never took his eyes off of hers. “Sometimes.” She looked so hurt.

Five wasn’t sure what to do so he just let it all out and hoped she would hear at least half of it. “I started working for this company when I was in college. At first it was just errands and odd jobs, collecting on debts and delivering messages. It felt like working for the mob. They trained me. They trained me well. I was a natural, it was money that I could earn and not rely on my old man, so I kept at it.” She didn’t take her eyes off him, so he continued. 

“The first time I had to kill, I threw up after. I went back to my handler and told her that I had to quit. I tried to explain that I didn’t have the stomach for it, but she refused. She told me that I just needed a partner to get me through it. She introduced me to Hazel.” Vanya’s eyes closed for a moment; he could see that she was wondering who else had lied to her. “Together we excelled. We started getting more important, high profile jobs. Ones that paid…well…you know how well they paid.” He ducked his head, actually feeling ashamed about what he did for the first time in a long time. “We were the best which was a blessing and a curse. Being the best meant we made more money then either of us knew what to do with, but that also meant that we weren’t allowed to leave.”

“Hazel wanted to leave. He went to see the handler and she gave him an out. It cost him everything.” Vanya’s face started to soften as he continued. “He had to buy out his contract. It cost him every penny. I said he could come work for me. Drive for me, help me out with the hotel business when I was out of town, I offered him a good pay and an apartment for him and his wife.”   
“His wife?”  
“Yeah.” Five’s face fell. “Agnes.”  
“I’ve never met Agnes.”  
“That’s because the handler decided that money wasn’t a good enough buy out.” Vanya let out a gasp and her hand flew to her mouth. “Yeah, he came home one day, and she was…”  
“Oh my God.”  
“It broke him.” Five started walking towards her, this time she didn’t back up. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to scare you. These people I work for…they’re monsters. They will do anything to keep us in line.” He finally arrived in front of her and reached his hand up to cup her face. “If anything happened to you, I’d…I’d…”  
She jerked her face away from his hand. “You have a plane to catch.”  
“Vanya…”  
“No. If these people are as dangerous as you say, you really shouldn’t piss them off.” She stepped around him and walked over to his bag. She leaned over and picked up the gun, shoved it back into the bag, then stood up, looking back at him. “Go.”  
He stepped up to her and she let him put his hands on either side of her face. “I need to know you will be here when I get back.”  
She shook her head slightly and a single tear finally broke free and ran down her cheek. “I can’t promise that.”

Five pulled in a shaky breath. He stared at her for a moment before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on her mouth. He then reached down, picked up his bag, and quickly walked out the door, leaving Vanya to finally break down and sob.


	7. The rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five completes his mission and heads back home. Will Vanya be there? Are they going to be ok?

Five pulled his car into the garage at the private airfield owned by his employers. He grabbed his bag and slammed the door shut. He was furious. He wanted to get this job over with as soon as possible and get home to try to smooth things over with Vanya. That is, if she was even there when he got home. The thought nearly made him sick. He knew that he had become dependent on her love. He needed it. He craved it. And he decided then and there that if he lost her due to something that little weasel started, he would personally hire his company to put a hit out on Leonard Peabody and then volunteer for the assignment.

He knew it was his fault. Had he been honest with her from the beginning, maybe he wouldn’t be standing on this tarmac worrying about losing her. The relationship may have not gotten as far as it did, but at least there wouldn’t be the heartbreak of losing something so special.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sickly-sweet voice calling to him from the door of the private jet “Yoo hoo! Reginald! Are you coming?”  
He looked up to see the face that the voice belonged to. “Shit.” He mumbled under his breath at the sight of his Handler. “This is just what I fucking needed.” He walked toward the small staircase that lead to the door. She backed up as he reached her and he followed her into the small aircraft.  
“I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it.” She motioned to a seat for him across from where she was sitting down. “I thought maybe that little girlfriend of yours had distracted you.” Five stiffened at the mention of Vanya. “Oh please, of course we know about her.” She motioned to the pilot to go ahead and leaned toward Five. “We know about everything.”

“She’s not a threat.” Five stuffed his bag under his seat and waved away an attendant who offered a tray of drinks. “She knows nothing, thinks I’m in mergers or some shit. We have no intention of taking things farther than they are and I’m NOT quitting.”  
“So paranoid” The Handler took a long sip of whiskey, smearing her bright red lipstick all over the glass as she did so. How he hated that lipstick.   
“Well, you’ll forgive me if I’m a bit concerned. My last partner didn’t have the best…retirement experience, and you never come on jobs.”  
“Relax Reggie. I’m just hitching a ride. I have some business at your destination.”   
“You have business in Spearfish South Dakota?”  
She put her hands up in defeat. “You got me. What I’m really doing is evaluating my men. I’ve decided to tag along on some jobs. I feel detached back at headquarters. Besides…” She leaned across the small distance separating them and ran the back of her hand gently down the side of his face. “I miss seeing that gorgeous face of yours.” Five tried not to puke.

The plane touched down and Five had no intentions of beating around the bush. For one thing, he wanted to get this job done and get home to hopefully salvage something of his relationship, and two, if the Handler was watching, efficiency was always a good idea. They hopped into a company car and headed out to pay one Micky Ambrose a visit.

The kill was uneventful. The poor slob was napping in the backyard of his shitty suburban home like so many mob witnesses before him. Security was a joke. Five walked up to him, put a bullet in his head and strolled back to the car. He slid in the backseat as the Handler was giving him a golf clap. God she annoyed the shit out of him. “Well done. You see, this is what we were talking about last week in management. We don’t take the time to do these little jobs anymore. But these are the cash cows!” He leaned his head against the window, not even pretending to listen to her as she droned on about ‘guys with his reputation’ doing ‘piddly jobs’ like a newbie, and ‘being a team player.’

The conversation lasted the entire drive to the airport, through the flight and the walk out to the parking garage. Finally, it was mercilessly ended as they had to go to their separate cars. Five barely registered her “This was fun!” as he rushed to his car and fired it up, fully expecting to get a ticket as he sped home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He stopped in his tracks; his key poised just outside the keyhole. He had a pain in his chest, not sure what was waiting on the other side of the door. Finally, he took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and pushed his way inside. 

His breath caught in his throat at the site of her. She was sitting at the kitchen table and even though she didn’t look at him, he didn’t care. She was still here and that was a step in the right direction. He cautiously approached and when she still kept staring straight ahead as if he was already occupying the chair across from her, he decided to sit.

He didn’t know how long they sat there, just looking at each other. He quite frankly didn’t know what to say, or how to even start. Just when he thought they would sit there forever, she spoke. “There needs to be some rules.” Her tone was calm and calculated, as if she had been practicing it all day. He simply nodded and waited for her to continue. “Number one. No more lies. If one of us asks, the other answers.”  
“Deal.”  
“Number two. You get a gun safe. I don’t like that thing in a box in the closet or wherever you were keeping it. If I’m here, it’s locked up.”  
“Ok.”  
“Number three.” She took in a shaky breath. “And I need to impress on you how important this rule is…Rule number three. You always…ALWAYS…come home to me.”  
Five looked her in the eyes, which were threatening to fill up with tears again. “Agreed.”

Vanya got up and walked over to his side of the table. She took him by the hand and urged him to stand. She wordlessly led him to their bedroom. Once inside, she reached up to take his face in her hands and kissed him. 

When she was 12, Vanya found one of her mother’s romance novels and decided that as a ‘young woman’ she should read it. She enjoyed the story and the sexy parts made her feel like she was doing something dangerous by reading it. When she got to a scene where the heroin was talking to her best friend about a particularly steamy conquest the night before. She explained to her friend something about ‘I have had sex with many men, but with Rudolpho…I truly know what it’s like to make love.’ Vanya put the book down and never turned back. She, even at a young age realized what a silly concept that was. Sex was sex and just doing it with someone you love, doesn’t change it. She never forgot how ridiculous that book was until this very moment when she realized that her and Five were actually making love.

From the outside looking in, Five and Vanya were having the most vanilla sex that she had ever had in her life. Over the course of their relationship they had gotten very adventurous. They were willing to try all sorts of positions, toys, even role playing. Anything to spice up their sex life. They rarely did just plain old missionary. This time was different. Physically, this should have been the most boring sex she ever had, but as she looked up at Five, hovering over her, their bodies moving in sync, not being able to take their eyes off of each other, it was the most intense experience of her life. 

As he rocked back and forth, he was whispering something between kisses that Vanya couldn’t quite hear. They are both giving lovers, always making sure that they are both taken care of no matter who finishes first, but this time they reach their peaks at the same time. It is a mind-blowing experience, knowing that her partner is exploding with pleasure at the same time as she is. She shudders with her release and while surrounded by blinding white heat, she vaguely feels him roll off of her and the bed shifts.

When the wave finally subsides, she looks over to see Five sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. “Five?” There is no answer, so she gets up and goes around to his side of the bed, kneeling down in front of him and looking up as his face to find him crying. She tenderly reaches up and takes his hands into hers so he can see that she too, has tears streaming down her face. He simply says between heavy breaths, “That was…intense, huh?”  
“Yeah.” 

She thinks of a million things to say but vetoes all of them in favor of actions. She nudges him to lay back down and goes back to her side of the bed as he swings his legs back up and climbs under the covers. She climbs in next to him and pulls him close to her, laying his head on her chest. In that moment, she thinks about how small he looks in her arms. Her big scary hitman, cuddling into her arms like a child who had a nightmare. They hold each other like that until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a sexy sexy writer. I did my best and hope it made up for the angsty last chapter.


	8. Following the rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya get back into the swing of things, attend a birthday party, and take a big step in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a bit of fluff before we get to some intense final chapters.

Over the next few weeks, they fell back into a comfortable routine. His job was never really spoken about and Vanya held her tongue when Five would go out on a job. She just kissed him and reminded him of rule number 3 and then he was off. 

One particular morning, Five was laying in bed watching Vanya get ready for work. “This is easily the worst part of my day.”   
“Why?”  
“Because it’s you putting your clothes ON. Not a favorite of mine.”  
“Well, Mr. Pogo frowns on naked waitresses.”  
“You know I’ve always wanted to ask, what kind of name is Pogo? Like, what nationality?”  
Vanya laughed. “Luther thinks he was raised by monkey scientists.”  
Five furrowed his brow. “Scientists who study monkeys or scientists who are monkeys?”  
“Hm.” Vanya stopped what she was doing. “I never asked him.”  
“Knowing Luther…” Vanya joined him, and they said in unison, “Scientists who are monkeys.”

She finished getting ready and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her purse and stepped up to the bed. Leaning in to kiss him goodbye she stopped inches from his face. “Oh, don’t forget to get Claire’s birthday gift.”  
“Shit.” He threw his head back onto the pillow. “What the hell do you buy a 7-year-old?”  
She reached out and took his pajama shirt, using it to pull him up to her. “I trust you completely.” She kissed him and walked out the door, leaving him to panic over buying a birthday gift for a child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Five and Vanya pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley. Vanya turned to look at him. “Fond memories?”  
“Hell yeah. This is where we went the night I got lucky with you the first time.”  
She playfully slapped his arm before reaching into the back seat and grabbing their gift. 

Inside, they immediately saw where they were going. More appropriately, they heard the gaggle of seven-year olds screaming and laughing from the lanes at the end of the room. There were a few adults mingling as well, many of them drinking. Five tensed up because other than Luther and Allison, he still wasn’t big on socializing. Vanya took his hand and squeezed. 

They approached the lane and Claire saw them. “Vanya!!!” She ran up to the couple and jumped into her arms.   
Vanya hugged back. “Happy birthday, kiddo!”  
“What did you get me?”  
“Claire!” Allison and Luther walked up to them and there were friendly greetings all around. Luther looked down at the bag Five was carrying and smiled. “Oh shit, you have your own ball and shoes? Do I have some competition?”  
“No,” Vanya laughed as she put the gift on the table piled with other wrapped boxes. “He is terrible. He just hates that all they do is spray the shoes with disinfectant.”  
Five looked annoyed at the laughter that caused. “Do you have any idea what kind of diseases people may have and they just pass those shoes around and expect you to use these nasty balls?”  
“Haha,” Luther laughed like a teen boy, before sipping on his beer. “Five said nasty balls.”

2 games later, Five had given up. Vanya noticed him handing out cash to some of the kids. He came up to her and frowned. “I have to stop before I go broke.”  
“Did you bet children?”  
“Yeah…they hustled me.”  
She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. “I think the next step is going to be cake and gifts anyway.”

They spent the next half hour watching Claire open her gifts, declaring each and every one her favorite. She did, Five noticed, smile at him extra wide when she opened her Harry Potter boxed set that she not so subtly hinted at wanting for the past few months. 

The party wound down and Allison came up to Vanya. She was clearly trying to hide a smile as she reminded her to return her shoes. Vanya walked up to the counter and handed the man her rentals. As she turned away, he called her back, “Uh, ma’am? You forgot something in your shoe.”   
“What?” She stepped back and he handed her a small box. “I didn’t…” She opened up the box and found herself staring at a gorgeous diamond ring. She figured that someone else had left it and the man was mistaken. She turned around to search the place for whoever lost it and found Five directly in front of her. He was down on one knee. 

Vanya’s mouth suddenly went dry, all she could manage was a whispered, “Oh my God.”   
“Yeah.” He smiled and reached up, taking the hand that wasn’t holding the box in his. “Vanya Lewis. Will you marry me?”  
“Five…I don’t know what to say.”  
Allison called from the crowd that was forming. “Say yes dummy!”  
“Yes!” She nearly cried and Five stood up, throwing his arms around her and pulling her into a passionate kiss, bowling alley setting be damned. They were pulled out of their own world by the sound of a group of little girls giggling right behind them and Claire’s voice yelling, “I get to be the flower girl!!!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Five was laying in bed, exhausted from the private celebrating he and Vanya did after they got home. She was lying next to him, holding her hand up and examining the ring. “I’ve never been a big jewelry girl but this…I could get used to.”  
“I’m going to quit my job.”  
Vanya stopped her appraisal and sat up looking back at him. “Is that a good idea?”  
He sat up to be next to her. “I can’t stand the thought of starting a family with you if I don’t know if I can always follow rule number three.”  
She stared at him for a beat. “We can’t start a family if your wife is dead.”  
“If I can’t do this without keeping you safe, then I won’t do it. But I have to try.”

Vanya searched his face for any sign that he was as scared as she was. She never found it. “How the hell are you so confident all the time?”  
“It’s part of my charm.”  
She put her newly ringed hand against the side of his face and whispered. “Make love to me again.”  
“Yes ma’am.”


	9. Risking it all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Five and Vanya are engaged, how will his work handle the news?

Less than a week later and wedding planning was in full swing. At the diner, at Vanya and Five’s place, at Luther and Allison’s, it was the only topic of discussion. Allison, after being asked to be Vanya’s Maid of Honor, had appointed herself official wedding planner. Vanya didn’t mind, she liked having someone else help her with decisions as Five’s answer to nearly every question was ‘what ever will make you happy.’

The two women were at Vanya’s kitchen table, pouring over wedding dress designs as Claire watched some cartoons when there was a knock at the door. Vanya got up, went over and opened it. Allison heard a gasp before looking up and seeing a group of men dressed in suits push their way in, each of them holding guns. She rushed over to Claire and took her in her arms as protectively as she could manage and watched as the four men were followed by a woman who looked like she’d be more at home in a 50’s sitcom than the real world. “Ladies,” the woman cooed, and turned her gaze toward Vanya, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five and Hazel entered the lobby of the building both with arms full of bags. Five had been sent out on a mission for so many things he asked his former partner for help. They approached the front desk where the door man stood and Five immediately felt that something was wrong. Hazel rounded to the back of him toward the elevators as Five addressed the man. “You new here?”  
“Yes.” The man behind the counter replied. “Just started, but don’t worry sir, I have been trained well and if you need anything…I’m your man.” He started to say more but was cut off as the butt of Hazel’s gun came down hard on the back of his head, knocking him out. Five dropped his bags and pulled out his own weapon before the pair rushed to the elevator, pressing the button for the 6th floor.

They exited the elevator on Hazel’s floor and hoofed it the next two floors on foot so as to not announce their arrival with the ding of the elevator. When they reached the top floor, they saw that the door to Five’s place was slightly open. From the crack he could hear muffled sounds. As they got closer, he could make out the sound of the Handler calmly issuing orders and a sound that made his blood boil. Claire was crying. 

He looked over at his companion and was very thankful in that moment that he was with someone who he had worked with for so many years. The pair didn’t say a word, just began to move as the team they once were, falling back into a rhythm as they wordlessly made a plan. Hazel made a signal indicating the fire escape and Five nodded, making sure to signal that they needed to get the kid out before any shooting occurred. 

Five walked up to the door and spoke, calmly and clearly into the opening. “Send the kid out and we can talk.”  
“Oh, good afternoon Reggie!” The Handler’s sweet voice made Five actually roll his eyes and caused Hazel to grip his gun a little tighter. “I’m glad you’re home. We’re having a little engagement party, why don’t you come in and join us?”  
“Send out the girl. Even your cold, dead heart doesn’t want to hurt a kid.”  
There was a moment of silence before he heard Claire sniffle and ask, “Mommy?” and Allison replied with a surprisingly calm, “go ahead sweety, Mommy will be out soon.” Good girl, Five thought. A panicked child is the last thing we need right now. 

Claire appeared in the hallway and when she saw Five, she ran into his arms, Hazel taking over the job of watching the door. “Hey kiddo. You did a good job, now I need you to be really brave for me ok?”  
“Ok.”  
“Now, think really hard. Can you tell me how many people are in the apartment and where they are standing?”  
“Um,” The little girl thought for a moment then answered. “Mommy and Vanya are sitting on the couch, there is a man standing behind them. He has a gun.” She sniffled a bit more but didn’t break down, giving Five an unusual sense of pride for the girl. “There is a man in the kitchen, and two men standing next to the scary lady. She’s in front of the fireplace.”  
Five pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear. “You are such a brave girl. I think you just saved the day.” He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “Now this part is going to be hard, but I need to know that you are safe. Do you trust me?” She nodded. “Ok, Hazel is going to take you down to his apartment on his way downstairs. I need you to lock the door behind you and let NO ONE in. One of us will come get you when this is over. Ok sweetie?” She nodded and took Hazel’s hand and the two of them went as quietly as they could into the stairwell, leaving Five alone in the hall. 

He took position next to the door once again and before he could speak, that voice came to him again. “Everything ok out there?”  
“Just peachy. What the hell do you want?”  
“How did you know we were here?”  
Five sighed. She was always a talker. “The man you put at the desk.”  
“Yes.”  
“He said he just started.”  
“What, this place never gets new employees?”  
“I own the building. I would know if someone new was hired.”  
“Shit.” He always got a strange satisfaction when she got frustrated. He would even be able to enjoy it if he wasn’t so concerned for the two people still in her clutches.

“Come on, I’m the one who really pissed you off. Let them go and I’ll come willingly.”  
“No!” He heard Vanya cry out. Good, she was alive. “Five, they’ll kill you”  
“Shut up bitch,” a man’s voice could be heard and then the unmistakable sound of someone getting slapped, hard. Five made a mental note not to kill the man behind the couch too fast.   
“That’s enough.” The Handler’s voice was always calm, no matter the situation. “There is a simple solution to all of this.”  
“What, me continuing to work for you? Not a chance.”  
“What then Reggie?” Her voice still seemed calm but Five could hear her ever so slightly begin to lose her cool. “Get married, have a bunch of kids and run your daddy’s hotel empire?”  
“That’s the plan, yeah.”

“Well, we all know there is a price to pay for early retirement…just ask your partner.”   
Five really hoped Hazel wouldn’t hear this next part but there was a part of him that knew he would tell him eventually. “Turns out that’s a load of bullshit.”  
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Her resolve was beginning to fade, it was nearly time. “I stopped by HQ today…talked to your superior. Retirement isn’t a difficult or as…costly as you made it out to be and I got to tell you, they are not too happy with you right now.”

The silence was deafening. He had no idea what was going on and as he strained to hear, his phone finally rang. The Handler’s voice went back to somewhat cool and collected. “If you need to take that, please do.”  
Five crouched down next to the door, ready to burst in and answered the phone. “You ready?”

Nearly the whole apartment was facing the door. The Handler, her two bookends, the man in the kitchen and even the man behind the couch. They all had eyes on the door, the only exceptions were Vanya and Allison. Sitting straight ahead on the couch, they could look left to the door or right to the back of the apartment where the fire escape was. Therefore, it didn’t surprise her as much as it did the Handler when the barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of the woman’s head and the man holding it spoke into his own phone, “Go.”

The next few seconds were a bit of a blur to Vanya. She heard the door bust open and a hail of gunfire was aimed at where Five should be had he ran in. He didn’t, however, run in. He sort of slid in on his side, and as the bullets flew feet above him, he fired two rounds, one into the head of the man in the kitchen, and one into the stomach of the man standing directly behind the couch. 

On the other side of the room, the two men standing by the Handler also reacted, one trying to grab the gun from Hazel and the other, now aware of where Five was lying, fired blindly at the floor near him as Five rolled for cover behind an arm chair and then effortlessly putting a bullet in between his eyes as well. Hazel threw his arm around the Handler, putting her into a choke hold as he shot the last man, watching him fall as his grip on the woman never faltered.

Five rushed over to the couch and knelt down in front of her. He pulled Vanya toward him, kissing her with everything he had. He pulled back and started to examine her and he vaguely heard Hazel in the background telling Allison where to find Claire. He ignored everything except his fiancé. He roamed his hands over her, checking for wounds all the while she reassured him that she was ok. 

He looked down at her leg and saw a red stain starting to form and a panic ran through him. “Vanya, you’ve been hit.” She looked down and put her hand on the blood, feeling nothing. “That’s not mine.” She reached down and pulled up the edge of his shirt where it was touching her leg. “Oh my God, Five.” He looked down at his own torso and saw the gushing bullet wound in his stomach. He didn’t even feel it. Adrenaline is a bitch. 

He finally let himself crumple to the ground and Vanya followed him, leaning over his body as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding. She grabbed a blanket off the couch and pressed down on the wound, hard, causing him to wince in pain. She didn’t care because as long as he was making noise, he was alive. She pulled her cell phone out and dialed 911, hoping it wasn’t too late.

The ambulance took 15 minutes, but it seemed like hours. She spent the entire time trying to make Five talk to her. That’s what they did in the movies, right? Keep them talking so they don’t die? “Five? Babe, you need to talk to me.”  
“What do you want to talk about?” Even while on death’s door, he was a sarcastic shit.  
“Anything. Just stay awake and talk to me.” She could see all the color quickly leaving his face, his skin looking nearly as pale as a ghost.  
“I need you to know…”  
“What?” She stroked the side of his face with the hand that wasn’t pressed down on the blanket.  
His breath was ragged, and he could no longer make full sentences. “I need…everything…is yours.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“I changed…my will…the hotels…all of it…”  
“Don’t talk like that.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. “There is no reason to leave anything to me because you are not going anywhere.”   
“Vanya.” His arm, now sticky with blood, reached up and he placed a palm on her cheek, she leaned into his hand. “I love you.”  
She watched as his eyes fluttered, nearly closing but she was not having it. “Five!” The sudden shout caused his eyes to fly back open for a moment, but they immediately began to close again. She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned down, placing a kiss on his lips before whispering back, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to just post this and wait a few days for the final chapter. For those of you who are actually reading this, I thought it was kind of a douchy move to leave it like this, so I'm posting the final chapter immediately after this...I hope you enjoy!


	10. How does it all end?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of what happened in the apartment.

As Vanya sat in the little uncomfortable chair in the cold dark room, she glanced down at her hands sitting on her lap. It was the first time since she got to the hospital that she looked at them. They were still covered in blood, his blood. She had her first rational thought as she said to herself, I really need to wash my hands. She stood up and stepped out into the nearly empty hallway. 

As she passed the nurse’s station, she stopped to speak to the woman on duty there. “Um, I have to go wash my hands.” It was hard to talk coherently while you were trying not to cry. “Could you come get me if he wakes up?”  
“Of course, dear.” The nurse had one of those smiles that seemed really genuine, and Vanya felt a little relieved when seeing it. “The bathroom is right down the hall there, to your left.”  
“Thank you.” 

It took longer than she thought but finally scrubbed the last of Five’s blood off her hands and arms. As she took a final look in the mirror, she decided that she should call Allison and have her bring some clothes, so she could burn these. The walk back to the room was short but she passed one of those coffee vending machines near the nurse’s station. She fished in her pockets and found the right amount of change and pressed the button for a dark roast. Five would appreciate that she had a cup while sitting with him. She grabbed the cup from the dispenser and walked back to his room.

She stopped in the doorway when she noticed a man in a dark black suit standing next to Five’s bed. “What the hell are you doing?”  
The man looked up at her and smiled. Not a genuine smile like the nurse, but the kind of fake smile a salesman has, one that can mold into whatever he needs at any given moment. “You must be Vanya.” She stiffened as he spoke her name. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to harm either of you. I just want to talk.”  
“Who are you?”  
“I’m Five’s former employer.” Her eyes widened at the thought of who she was talking to. “I own the company, so technically I’m his boss’ boss, but either way…” He trailed off and looked back at Five.  
“Did you say former employer?”

He looked back at her and smiled, this one more real. “Yes.” He walked around the back of the bed and stood in front of her. “Five’s handler was, how do I put this?”  
“An evil heartless bitch?” Vanya offered.  
“That will work. She took matters into her own hands. We had no idea she was running her division the way she was.” He glanced down at her coffee and back up at her. “Where can I get a cup?”  
She gestured to down the hall and he nodded, continuing. “We would love for our employees to work forever but that simply is not plausible. It’s a dangerous job. Some quit because they can’t hack it, some because they start families.” He motioned to her before continuing. “If we employed the Handler’s barbaric means and word got around, which it always does, no one would ever come to work for me…I’d be ruined.”

Vanya listened as the man continued. “Five came to me yesterday and asked to leave. He said it was only under the condition that you would remain unharmed. He loves you very much.” She looked down at her coffee as he went on. “He explained about Hazel and said that if that was in your future, he would keep working for us. I asked him to explain and he told me everything. I told him to go home and get married, I’d be in touch with the finer details of him leaving the company. Non-disclosure agreements and the like.”   
Vanya stifled a chuckle. “You run a very efficient murder for hire business.”  
“It’s the only way to keep things running smoothly.”

They sat silently for a few moments before the man straightened his tie. “Well, I hope this cleared a few things up for you.” He looked back at Five. “He’s a fighter, he’ll pull through this.”  
“I know he will.”  
The man started to leave but stopped at the door and without turning around he spoke, “Oh by the way, your apartment is being taken care of. We found all four of her men, but it looks like the Handler got away. We will find her, don’t worry about that.”  
“No you won’t.”  
He turned to her with a question on his face. “How’s that?”  
Vanya took a sip of her coffee and never took her eyes off Five as she explained. “Hazel took her…you won’t find the body.” The man nodded and left the room, she never saw him again.

She sat back down in the little uncomfortable chair and tried to sleep. Her eyes felt heavy and as she began to drift off, she heard a faint muffled voice. “Vanya?”   
She bolted out of the chair and was at his side in an instant. He was dazed and disoriented, but he was alive. She put her hand up to run her fingers through his sweaty mass of hair and smiled down on him. “I’m here babe.”  
“What the hell happened? Where am I?”  
“You got shot, remember?” The look on his face told her that he did, indeed, remember. “You’re in the hospital, the doctor said you lost a lot of blood, but you are going to be ok.”   
He ran his eyes over the room landing on the side table. “Is that for me?”  
She followed his stare and saw him looking at the coffee she bought earlier. “No! You can’t have coffee!”

He grunted and brought his eyes back to hers. He looked at her for a long time and she waited for him to talk. “I love you.”  
“I love you too.” She leaned in to kiss him and lingered after, her forehead pressed up against his. She finally broke the contact and went to drag the little uncomfortable chair closer so she could hold his hand as he drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, she would tell him about his former boss’ visit. Until then, she would let him sleep because she knew he was going to be ok. They were both going to be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really proud of this story. It's the longest fan fiction I've written. Usually I write original fiction that is this long, and I leave fan fiction to shorter stories but this one kind of got away from me.
> 
> Please let me know what you think, good or bad. (If it's bad, try to be nice)


End file.
